Pakistani Taliban Attack

In the early morning of December 16th, a horrifying attack by the Pakistani Taliban occurred at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Peshawar is a historical city in Pakistan; 75 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, populating 3 million people. Seven members of the Pakistani Taliban arrived at the Army Public School and Degree College and began uncontrollably shooting. The school has about 1,100 people attend it daily. They shot down school buildings including the public school’s auditorium and classrooms. Asim Baja said, “They started shooting indiscriminately and that’s where maximum damage was caused,”. The brutal attack resulted in 145 deaths of primarily young children and teenagers. Twelve teachers were also murdered in the tragedy. The Army Public School and Degree College tragedy in Peshawar is the largest and deadliest incident in Pakistan since 2007 when the assassination of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto occurred.

The Pakistani government is much to blame for not only the school invasion Tuesday, but for many Pakistani terrorist attacks in the past couple of years. The terrorist group generally attacks the Pakistani army but sometimes also civilians. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have become so powerful due to the fear of a military attack from India. The TTP encourages jihadist groups in Kashmir, which is debated land between India and Pakistan. Additionally, the TTP and the Haqqani, Afghanistan’s most dangerous terrorist group, are allies and work together. The Peshawar school attack causes suspicion that these two atrocious groups are collaborating.